Last offseason didn\u2019t go the way William Eklund wanted it to.<\/p>\n
Instead of working on and improving specific parts of his game, he was rehabbing a wrist injury picked up just ahead of the World Championship for Team Sweden.<\/p>\n
While he hasn\u2019t yet thought about whether he\u2019ll play for Team Sweden this year, an injury-free summer grants him more time to rest, reset, and get better. Specifically, Eklund wants to use that time to work on his shot.<\/p>\n
\u201cI had a lot of chances this year that I think that I should have put in. Creating a lot of chances still, and I feel like I should be able to score more,\u201d Eklund said. \u201cI\u2019m going to work on it and see what different types of areas I can shoot, where I can shoot, and stuff like that, when to shoot.\u201d<\/p>\n
In 78 games played this season, the young San Jose Sharks winger scored 15 goals and recorded 38 assists, similar output to his previous campaign.<\/p>\n
Eklund spoke about Alex Wennberg\u2019s impact, how Michael Misa reminds him of younger brother Victor, and coming so close to the playoffs.<\/p>\n
On the forward group potentially being similar next year\u2026<\/p>\n
If it\u2019s a similar forward group, or group in general, I think that\u2019s a good thing too. You create chemistry in that way too. I feel like the past couple years, I played with a lot of different players, and you always want to create some chemistry too. Everybody here is dialed into to have a great summer and to work really hard to be back and great to make the playoffs.<\/p>\n
On how Alex Wennberg makes the San Jose Sharks better\u2026<\/p>\n
This year he showed why he\u2019s one of the most underrated players in the league. He can do it all \u2013 can kill penalties, power play, can be different types of areas, and you\u2019ll always get a good night from him. For myself he plays the game pretty similar, and that\u2019s why we\u2019ve been playing really good together as well. Outside of hockey he\u2019s also a good mentor for me and been helpful last couple of years. So I really appreciate him and his family has meant a lot to me as well.<\/p>\n
On his chemistry with Michael Misa\u2026<\/p>\n
He\u2019s a great kid. He reminds me a little bit of my brother sometimes, how he is outside of hockey. I\u2019m just trying to be there for him, because I know coming into the league is not easy. I can see how good of a hockey player he can become, and how good he already is. He\u2019s taken a lot of huge steps this year. I think for this organization to win games, he\u2019s going to be one of the biggest pieces to become that player that he really can be. So we got to keep in touch all summer and make sure talk with him once a while.<\/p>\n
Eklund says he told his brother that now the Eklund family has 253 NHL games between them<\/p>\n
\u2014 Sheng Peng (@Sheng_Peng) April 18, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n On how close the San Jose Sharks were to making the playoffs\u2026<\/p>\n It\u2019s a little different this year. Last couple of years you were out of it with 15 games left. It\u2019s different this year. We\u2019re just right there. It\u2019s a little disappointing, obviously. Looking back to it, maybe I\u2019m going to be like we had hell of progress this year. But you wanted to make the playoffs. We did not play good enough in the games that matter the most, and we got to learn from it. We got to get better. But it\u2019s mixed emotions, for sure.<\/p>\n On the team\u2019s connection this year\u2026<\/p>\n We had a great group this year, to be honest. It\u2019s one of the most fun groups I\u2019ve had. I think that\u2019s why we played good too. It\u2019s a great mix between young and older, and the veteran guys are showing the way, the young guys are showing the way. Everybody\u2019s just trying to buy in, and they are buying in. And that\u2019s why I love this group a lot. Had so much fun throughout the year, and that\u2019s obviously why you wanted to make it further. But it is what it is, and we\u2019re going to be back next year.<\/p>\n See the full interview here<\/a><\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t